Stratford Chefs School appoints Kimberley Payne as Executive Director

Stratford – One of Southwestern Ontario’s leading not-for-profit community developers is joining the Stratford Chefs School’s management team as the school embarks on its second quarter century of operation.

Kimberley Payne, currently Executive Director with Huron United Way, was approved by the school’s board of directors on March 7th. Payne joins co-founders James Morris and Eleanor Kane in leading the Stratford Chefs School forward as Canada’s pre-eminent educator of culinary professionals.

“We are delighted to welcome Kimberley to our dynamic institution”, said SCS co-founder Eleanor Kane. “She is an exceptional strategic leader within organizations and communities and our administrative group looks forward to working with her.”

Payne joined Huron United Way in 2004 and revitalized the struggling operation through three successful campaigns and achieved renewed partnerships with community organizations. Previously, she was Executive Director for a resource and help centre in Tilbury, Ontario.

Payne’s appointment comes at the end of a six-month nationwide search led by a board search committee, chaired by Nancy Lockhart and supported by the executive search firm Searchlight Recruitment Inc.

Founded in 1983 by James Morris, owner of Rundles Restaurant, and Eleanor Kane, co-owner of The Old Prune, the Stratford Chefs School is a not-for-profit educational institution training young Canadian chefs. The School is unique in that it is the only culinary institute in Canada operated by working restaurant professionals; therefore, its curriculum remains in step with changing market developments in the restaurant industry. With its recent launch of a unique gastronomic writer-in-residence program, the Stratford Chefs School continues to innovate in its programs and services.